Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls - 10/29/13

TV:

Lebron James and the defending champion Miami Heat host Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls to kick off the new NBA season from South Beach.

Fresh of their second consecutive NBA title, the Miami Heat enter this season with a chance to become one of the greatest teams of all time if they can secure that elusive third straight title, a feat only three other teams have been able to accomplish. Thanks to another finals MVP performance by Lebron James and some Ray Allen heroics in the waning stages of Game 6, the Heat took down the San Antonio Spurs in an epic seven game final series, cementing their place as one of the most dominate teams of this past decade.

Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

For the Chicago Bulls, it’s all about the return of Derrick Rose who sat out the entire 2012-13 season recovering from an ACL injury. Even without Rose and a slew of injuries during the season, Chicago still managed to make the playoffs and win their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets, before succumbing to the Heat in the next round. Like Miami, the Bulls return the core of their roster for this upcoming season, which includes the aforementioned Rose, who has looked great in preseason action thus far.

It’s fair to say that Miami has been the dominate team in the NBA over the last three seasons, but one team they always tend to struggle against in that time period has been the Bulls. Despite the injuries, Chicago managed to split their regular season meetings against Miami in 2012-13 and even though they went down in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Bulls played them tough in GameS 3 & 5.

I always like going against the reigning champions on opening night and this one is no exception. Every year we see the team that receives their championship rings before the game struggle, given the emotion that goes into the whole pregame ceremony. Even though the Heat took care of business against the visiting Boston Celtics in last season’s opener, that wasn’t the case for the previous three reigning champs on opening night.

I also think this game means a lot more to Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls than it does to the Miami Heat. Rose came out recently and said that the Bulls were their only rivals in the league and it’s no secret that they don’t like this Heat squad, which us putting it lightly. You should never invest too heavily on opening night, but it’s fair to say I like the Bulls in this one….

Chicago +5

Comments (0)

Activities offered by advertising links to other sites may be deemed an illegal activity in certain jurisdictions. Viewers are specifically warned that they should inquire into the legality of participating in any games and/or activities offered by such other sites. The owner of this website assumes no responsibility for the actions by and makes no representation or endorsement of any of these games and/or activities offered by the advertiser. As a condition of viewing this website viewers agree to hold the owner of this website harmless from any claims arising from the viewer’s participation in any of the games and/or activities offered by the advertiser.
About Us | Advertise with us | Copyright & Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Join our team